


and you bring me home

by steveandbucky



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Female-Centric, Femslash, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flashbacks, New Beginnings, Peggy Carter as Captain America, Peggy!Cap, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Super Soldier Peggy Carter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 16:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11627013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steveandbucky/pseuds/steveandbucky
Summary: Captain America wakes up from the ice.She meets her grandniece, makes a new friend, and tries to adjust to life in the 21st century.





	and you bring me home

**Author's Note:**

> finally finished this forever-a-WIP peggy!cap fic!!! I'm very excited to post it so please let me know what you think of it (and whether there should be part two?)
> 
> note: i have taken some liberties with the birth years of certain characters, i.e. picked them up from the 40's and dropped them in 2012 because, uh, why not?
> 
> enjoy :)

 

She knocks out three agents, dodges two more, and outruns seven; she runs and runs and runs and when she finally stops, she’s amidst a hectic, busy city, honking cars and flashing lights all around her, a place she doesn’t recognise except for a sense of familiarity that she can’t shake. There’s man with a black coat and an eye patch telling her it’s 2012, and she’s been asleep for almost 70 years, and Peggy thinks someone is playing a cruel, cruel joke on her.

 

~~

 

On the third day, she meets Sharon Carter, who tells her she’s a SHIELD agent, and her brother’s granddaughter. Peggy hugs her and holds her tight, and squeezes her eyes shut against the hot, stinging tears when she thinks about her parents and her brothers, the men and women she’d fought with, all her friends and family she’d had, gone forever.

 

~~

 

They give her a latest tech laptop, a mobile phone and a tablet – though she briefly wonders if she truly needs all three devices. She’s got a bank account set up in her name with seventy years’ worth of back pay, a new personnel file at SHIELD, as well as a new uniform and badge.

Her new apartment is in her old neighbourhood, and it’s furnished with the bare minimums, modern furniture, essential appliances, and a black-and-white photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge hanging on a wall in her living room.

She sleeps on the couch for the first three nights, gun under her pillow and a knife taped under the coffee table.

 

~~

 

Sharon shows up to take her shopping, accompanied by Agent Romanoff, who has a firm handshake and a polite smile, and something akin to admiration in the way she looks at Peggy.

She buys makeup and perfume, tries to get used to clothes that are in fashion in the 21st century, and fails. In the dressing room, she stares at herself in the mirror and doesn’t recognise the person staring back at her. Sharon and Natasha laugh at the look of horror in her face when she tries on a pair of jeans and finds the idea that people wear them willingly ridiculous. But there’s a lot more options for her to try and lets the two women advise her, trying on skirts and shirts and dresses and two dozen pairs of shoes.

She goes home with arms full of carrier bags and drops on her comfy, plush king-sized bed and sobs with her face buried in her hands.

 

~~

 

She eats, she sleeps. She grows out her hair and paints her nails red.

She tries to get used to life in this new century where everything is ass-backwards.

She runs in the mornings and at nights, she kicks and punches the living hell out of the boxing bag in the gym two blocks away, and collapses on all fours, whole body shaking as the adrenaline washes out and all that remains is the fear, her skin prickling in the cold of the night.

She puts on her coat and walks the streets at midnight when she can’t sleep because when she does all she sees is the red of the fire and blood, the blue and white of the Arctic ice.

She grabs her tablet and finds a bakery tucked away in a corner of her neighbourhood, where a girl with dark blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun and a wide smile serves her black coffee and fruitcake, while she reads and reads and reads, trying to catch up on everything she’s missed.

 

~~

 

“Here ya go, English,” she says on the fourth day that Peggy shows up at the bakery at seven in the morning, placing her usual order at her table.

“Sorry, what?”

The waitress smiles, a slight blush colouring her pale cheeks. “Sorry. I don’t know your name, so I call you English in my head.”

A slow smile curls her lips as Peggy considers this then says, “My name is Peggy,”

“I’m Angie,” the waitress says, extending her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, Angie.”

Angie grins and says, “Pleasure’s all mine,” and winks at her.

She turns on her heel and walks away, and Peggy watches her go.

Previous statement redacted: jeans may be acceptable under certain circumstances.

 

~~

 

She gets her first mission after four impossibly long weeks, and by that time her skin is itching with the need to go back out into the field, do what she knows how to do best. They make her go through a series of physical examinations, psychological evaluations, and a training exercise, informing her of the protocols and policies she should be aware of her, and give her a brand new, all-blue stealth suit.

She puts the helmet on and holds her shield, painted in dark shades of blue, to her chest and smiles to herself; for once, for the first time since she woke up, she feels comfortable in her own skin.

It’s a simple hostage extraction mission, and her team is highly capable and fully briefed, or at least that’s what Sharon, her second-in-command tells her. She meets them on the helicarrier, and tries not to notice the way they’re all eyeing her with that near-worship admiration, the awe of being in the presence of Captain America.

In the end, it all goes smoothly, and there’s no casualties, even as the warehouse they leave behind goes down in flames. Peggy watches it from the window of the heli-carrier as they ascend, and sees a HYDRA base in Azzano, allied and enemy soldiers dropping dead left and right while they make their escape. She steps away, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, and spends the flight back reading a new bestseller, letting the words of a fictional world take over her mind and unwind her.

 

~~

 

Angie brings her a second cup of tea that she didn’t order, and takes a seat opposite from her.

“So, are you a writer or editor or something?”

Peggy looks up, blinking at her.

“Not that I’ve seen you write anything, but you’re always reading on that thing,” Angie nods towards the tablet in the brunette’s hands. “Unless you’re a professional book reader. Is that a thing?”

“Um,” Peggy scrambles for an answer, which is uncharacteristic of her in every way. “No, I just have a lot of free time on my hands, I suppose,”

The waitress nods. “You don’t have a job you need to be at?”

“Not at the moment, no,” Peggy smiles. “I’m on leave, I used to be in the army,” she says, because it’s true, technically.

She was a spy who got turned into a super soldier, trained in espionage and battle, but she can’t exactly go around telling people that she works for SHIELD, and that she’s Captain America, no less. Only those who work with her on missions know her without the mask, and even those agents don’t really know her past her title and her shield.

“That must have sucked,” Angie says, eyebrows knitted together in worry.

Peggy laughs, the sound startled out of her. “You know what, Angie, it did. It sucked,” she says, and it makes the blonde look at her with wide eyes, probably wondering whether Peggy is losing her mind.

“Are you doing okay, now that you got out?”

What a loaded question. Peggy hesitates for a moment before she nods in response, because what else can she do?

The question haunts her for the rest of the week.

 

~~

 

  
They stare at the floor plans for three hours, brainstorming and strategizing and coming up with a plan to infiltrate the event and retrieve the chemical before it lands on the wrong hands. In the end they have Barton on the building across the street, Carter and Romanoff going undercover, and Peggy’s tasked with infiltrating the building with only two agents as her team. They’re supposed to get in and out as quickly and quietly as possible, incapacitating any threats and most of all making sure the person in possession of the dangerous substance is oblivious to their presence.

“On my mark,”

“Get set…”

“Not the time for jokes, Barnes.”

“Sorry, Cap.”

“Especially shitty ones.”

“Hey, fuck you, pal.”

“Will you both shut the hell up?!” Peggy hisses into the comms.

“Yes, sir!” come the replies, in perfect unison.

There’s footsteps behind her and Peggy turns around and throws her shield with all her force, knocking the man down. She checks her surroundings then makes her way further down the hallway, finally reaching the first security checkpoint.

“Status report,”

“All clear up here,”

“Oh, I’ve got my eye on him,” comes Natasha’s response, voice low and flirty, followed by a feigned laugh, from Sharon who’s next to her.

“Clear on blue,

“Clear on red,”

Peggy sighs. “Next time,” she says as she puts in the ten-digit password. “I’m picking the code names,”

“Aye, aye, Captain!”

 

 

~~

 

 

She sees a SHIELD therapist once a week, a mandatory arrangement for her to be allowed back in the field. They tell her about trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder and ask her about how she's adjusting to her new life in this new century. More often than not, she leaves the sessions feeling irritated at her doctor. The last thing she wants is to talk about it with a complete stranger, who will pretend to understand but never really will. No one ever will.

“Maybe what you need is group support,”

Peggy hums. “Yes, let me just contact my barbershop quartet.”

Sharon shakes her head, grinning in amusement. “I meant with other soldiers. War is war, soldiers are soldiers. It's not that different from what you went through.”

Peggy is silent for a moment. She had died. She was supposed to die, and not wake up decades later to find herself alive again in a world that had moved on without her.

“I'll think about it,”

That night, she wakes up in a cold sweat, shivering and gasping for air. She turns up the heat and grabs another blanket from the wardrobe and goes over the mission file for the next day to clear her mind of everything else.

 

 

~~

 

 

“You gonna join us for drinks, Cap?” Barton asks her after a long day of briefings, as they’re all heading towards the elevator.

Peggy’s caught off guard, and she doesn’t respond right away.

“Come on, come out with us! We really wanna hang out with Captain America.” Barnes says with a grin, and receives a nudge to his ribs from Rogers.

“Um,” Peggy runs a hand through her hair, tucking it behind one ear. “I’ve actually got plans.”

She doesn’t miss the way Sharon’s eyes widen a little.

“Hot date?”

“Barton, for the love of-”

Peggy chuckles, shaking her head. “I don’t think that’s any of your business, Agent Barton,” she says, interrupting Sharon’s berating.

Barton actually blushes and averts his gaze to his purple sneakers. “Sorry, Cap,” he mumbles.

Peggy leaves SHIELD Headquarters with a smile on her face and a little bounce in her step, more than a little impatient to get home and get ready for her plans later in the evening.

 

 

~~

 

 

Angie’s waiting for her by the ticket counter, her gaze focused on a movie poster, while absentmindedly snacking on popcorn. Peggy smiles when she spots the blonde, and speeds up to meet her.

Angie’s face lights up when she spots her, hair swaying as she turns her head to look at Peggy. “Hey!” she grins. “You’re late.”

“Sorry,” Peggy averts her gaze, glancing down at their shoes. “Work run late.”

“That’s okay, we can still catch the beginning of the film. There’s always like, half an hour of ads and whatnot.” She pulls two tickets from her pocket and gives one to the brunette. “Let’s go.”

Two hours later, they leave the theatre with their arms linked together, and Peggy’s smiling so much her cheeks are starting to hurt. She doesn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much; the film itself wasn’t a comedy, but Angie’s quick wit and hilarious commentary had her struggling to keep her laughter quiet.

They walk out the doors and into the warm early summer evening, and Angie spins around to face her, grinning ear to ear. “Where to next?”

Peggy’s phone springs into life, ringing with the designated tone she has for Sharon. She pulls out her phone and looks at the screen for a moment, contemplating. It could be important. Sharon never calls. But she _will_ text fourteen times in a row when you’re watching a movie she recommended to make sure you’re getting all the jokes and not missing any important moments.

“You wanna take that?” Angie asks, a teasing note to her tone.

“Sorry,” Peggy smiles at her, apologetic, before sliding to answer. “Hello?”

“Hey, auntie,”

“Is something wrong?”

“Nope, I’m just checking in.”

Peggy lets out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding. “Well, I’m fine, thanks for checking.”

“How’s your _date_ going?”

Peggy purses her lips together, trying to bite back a smile even though Sharon can’t see her. She changes the subject with a mock-stern, “Isn’t it past your bedtime, young lady?”

Sharon laughs. “I’m actually at the bar with the guys. Hey, you should drop by to say hi. Just for fun, I have no ulterior motives.”

“I’m sure,” Peggy allows herself to smile, which widens when she catches Angie’s eye. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll text you the address. Bye!”

“Sorry about that,” Peggy says, walking over to Angie again. “My niece is trying to invite me out for drinks with some work people.”

Angie frowns. “Are you sure your niece should be allowed to be out drinking?”

“Oh,” Peggy’s face falls. “Yeah, um - that’s a bit confusing. She’s actually only a couple of years younger than me.”

“Oh! Okay then, in that case, let’s go!”

Peggy stares at her, baffled.

“Come on, introduce me to your work friends.” Angie links her arm around Peggy’s again and hails them a cab.

Fifteen minutes later Peggy finds herself outside of Josie’s, being led inside somewhat reluctantly by an enthusiastic Angie. It’s perhaps one of the worst dive bars in the city. Trust her team to choose this very place to hang out with after work.

She doesn’t spot them right away, but catches glimpse of Barnes and Rogers at the bar, waiting for their drinks’ order, having no reservations about letting the entire bar know just what exactly the nature of their relationship is.

Which is still something that Peggy’s getting used to it. But in the best way, the joyful little flip her stomach does every time she sees two women holding hands while walking around in town.

The pair straighten up when they notice her, eyes wide and probably blushing to their roots, clearly not expecting her.

“Gentlemen,” she greets them with a slight smirk.

“Hey, Cap, we weren’t expecting you.” says Barnes, while Roger’s turned away, busying himself trying to get the bartender’s attention.

“Sharon invited us,” Peggy says, nodding towards Angie, who steps closer and extends a hand towards Barnes.

“Angie Martinelli, nice to meet you.”

Barnes’ mouth drops open slightly when he sees her. His eyes travel from Angie to Peggy and then back to Angie before he mumbles out his name and returns the sentiment. Then he taps on Rogers’ shoulder, trying to get his attention, and more introductions and dumbfoundedness follow.

They tell her Sharon’s at their table in the back with Romanoff, Barton and Hill. The two women order their drinks, and Rogers kindly offers to bring them with his own, so Peggy reaches out and grabs Angie’s hand, intertwining their fingers together, before she leads her to meet more of her friends.

If she’s gonna come out, as they say, she might as well do it properly.

Sharon tries to keep a straight face, only giving a warm, welcoming smile, but there’s something in that smile that suggests she’s dying to say _I knew it._ Hill and Romanoff are respectful, but they’ are experts at maintaining a poker face, so Peggy’s not sure if they really are that accepting or just being polite. Barton, on the other hand, nods for a long moment then breaks into a smile and exclaims ‘That’s awesome!’ and offers Angie a high-five, welcoming her to the family.

Peggy just catches Angie’s eye and shakes her head very slightly, giving her a secretive little smile.

It isn’t until about half an hour in that Angie asks, “So, where do you all work? I don’t think you ever mentioned.”

There’s a moment of silence, and just before Peggy can give the answer she used to back before the war, Barton pipes up with “Paper supply company-”

Romanoff rolls her eyes. “Clint, we’re not gonna be like _The Office_ , let it go,” she says, and he pouts, looking grumpy about it. “The actual answer is private security firm.”

“Like bodyguards?” Angie asks, eyes widening.

“Something like that.” Peggy mutters under her breath,

Angie turns towards her. “Are you allowed to tell me fun scandal stories or not because of confidentiality and crap?”

“Confidentiality.” Peggy says, biting back a smile when Angie pouts. “Sorry.”

They take the subway home later, after they’ve had a couple of drinks, but neither is intoxicated. Peggy hops off at Angie’s stop, insisting she wants to make sure Angie gets home safe.

Angie takes hold of her hand once they’re outside the station, intertwining their fingers. “My hero.”

Peggy snorts. “Hardly.”

They continue walking in silence, until Angie comes to a stop in front of a tall building and turns to face her, a soft smile on her face. “Hey, I had fun tonight.”

“Me too,” Peggy breathes out. “I’m glad you asked me out.”

“Yeah?” Angie asks, smile widening.

“I didn’t realise-” Peggy starts to say, but breaks off, glancing down in a moment of hesitation. “Didn’t realise this was a _date_ , at first.” she mumbles

Angie laughs. “Really? So what, just gal pals hanging out?”

Peggy laughs and looks away, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment. She looks back at Angie, who’s looking at her with such a fondness in her eyes, and she falls silent.

Before Angie even manages to finish her question, Peggy is nodding, stepping forward, cupping Angie’s face in her hands right before they close the gap, mouths meeting in a soft, gentle kiss. And another one. And one more.

Angie steps away, breaking contact, smiling ear to ear. “I hope that makes my intentions clear.”

“Very clear.”

“Good.” Angie bites down on her lower lip. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Definitely. Good night.” Peggy says and instinctively steps forward without even realising it.

Angie obliges her with one last lingering kiss before she wishes her a good night and disappears inside her apartment building.

 

~~

 

Peggy wakes up to the sound of rain against her window, a smile curling her mouth as she becomes aware of it. It reminds her of her home in England, makes her a little nostalgic.

She shrugs on her robe and puts on the kettle to make tea, humming a tune of a song she doesn’t remember the name of; it’s one of those catchy ones she keeps hearing on the radio, and they end up getting stuck in her head.

She forgoes the morning paper - digital, as is everything else - and turns on her TV, pulling up Netflix to watch something relaxing before she starts her day. She settles in and thinks, this isn’t so bad. This, she could get used to. Things are maybe starting to look up.

And then the aliens attack.

  
  



End file.
